Standings

Women's Cross Country

Columbus State Tops PBC Womens Cross Country Preseason Poll

Aug 18, 2010

AUGUSTA, GA – Columbus State University has been voted as
the preseason women’s cross country favorite in a poll of the
league’s head coaches released on Wednesday. The Lady
Cougars received seven of a possible nine first-place votes to
finish with 74 total points, ahead of second-place Augusta State
who had 67. Clayton State is third in the poll with GCSU
fourth and UNC Pembroke fifth. Montevallo, a tie with Flagler
and USC Aiken, Francis Marion and Georgia Southwestern round out
the voting.

Columbus State won their fifth consecutive PBC Championship in
2009, the second-longest streak in league history. They also
won their first-ever NCAA Southeast Regional and advanced to the
national championships for the second straight year. For
2010, head coach J.D. Evilsizer welcomes back four of his top five
runners including seniors Naomi Tanui and Brittney Skiles.
Tanui won the 2009 PBC Championship and finished third in the NCAA
Regionals while Skiles was second at the PBC and fourth in the
regional and was named the PBC Runner of the Year. Also
returning are senior Ashley Arnold, who was eighth at the PBC and
11th in the regional, and sophomore Moneka English.

Augusta State finished fifth at both the Peach Belt
Championships and the NCAA Regionals last season and bring back the
majority of the team for 2010. Head coach Adam Ward, who has
been named the PBC Coach of the Year for the last four consecutive
years, welcomes back rising sophomore Holly Keeper, who was the
team’s fastest at both the PBC and NCAA. Juniors
Angela Woodward, who had two top-10 finishes, and Savannah Sutton
also return. Sutton ran all six races for the Lady Jaguars
last year with two top-10 results.

Clayton State fielded a young squad in 2009 that finished fourth
in the PBC Championships and ninth at the NCAA regionals.
Coach Mike Mead brings back all five of the runners who started in
the PBC Championships, including senior Chelsea Ellis who was named
All-Conference last season after finishing third in the Peach Belt
race. Also back are a trio of juniors in Tamara Marshall,
Kourtney Aylor and Rene Mares along with sophomore Paige
Galvin.

The 2010 PBC women’s cross country season begins on Sept.
3 with most teams hitting the trail for the first time Sept.
10. The 2010 PBC Championships will be run on Saturday, Nov.
6, at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. The races will be
part of the first-ever PBC Fall Festival which will hold the
men’s and women’s soccer championships alongside the
cross country championships in the same facility at the same
time. The men’s race will begin at 9:00 am that
Saturday with the women and 9:45. The 2010 NCAA Regional will
be held Saturday, Nov. 20, in Charlotte, N.C.

Below is the 2010 women's cross country coaches poll.
Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.